Major John Kennon Bolling, Jr.

Notes:

John was noted for his sagacity in business and fine executive ability, as well as for his hospitality and love of pleasure. He lived in a style of profuse elegance, feasting and hunting and keeping fine horses and dogs.
For many years he was County Lieutenant of Chesterfield, an office of much dignity and importance, as he commanded the county militia, and presided at court.
He married (August 24, 1728) Elizabeth Blair, daughter of Col. Archibald Blair, and niece of the Commissary of the Bishop of London, Rev. Dr. James Blair, one of the founders of William and Mary College and its first President.


Will of Major John Bolling, b1700 d1757

1749 Will
-In the name of God Amen, I John Bolling of the Parish of Dale in the County of Henrico Gent. being of Sound and disposing mind and memory Thanks be to Almighty God for the same do make constitute and appoint this to be my last Will and Testament in manner following I give and Devise unto my loving Wife Elizabeth Bolling during her natural life all my lands and tenaments in the Counties of Henrico and Chesterfield except the land at the Point where John Bolling Inspection Houses are, also the use of all my Negroes on my several Plantations in the said Countys Also my Plantation cal1ed by the name of Bollings Island in Goochland County against Rock Castle Low Ground Also the use of Six Negroes named Lusey, Austin, Toney, Jugg, Sue, and Betty Also the use of all my Plate during her nature Life with full power to Bequeath the said Plate by her last Will and Testament to such of my Children as She shall think fitt (sic, fit) and in Case She shall Die without such Will then I give and Bequeath so said Plate unto my Sons Living at the Time of her Death to be equally divided amongst them. Also give and bequeath unto my said Wife all my Household goods, Stocks and other Personal Estate belonging to and being upon the said Lands Tenaments and Plantations to her own proper use forever.

I Give and devise unto my Son Thomas Bolling and his heirs and afsign (sic, assign) forever all that part of my Land in the County of Goochland called Licking Hole that is above Licking Hole Creek and two acres on the Fork of the said Creek below Alexander Logans be the same more or less which said Two Acres of Land I intended to have bounded by Marked Trees in the presence of several of the Neighbours (sic, neighbors).

I give and devise unto my Son John Bolling all the rest of my Licking Hole tract of Land lying below the said Creek and including the Fork thereof (except the two Acres before given to my Son Thomas) to him and his Heirs forever. I also give and devise unto my said Son John Bolling and his Heirs and Afsign (sic, Assign) forever my Mill on Beaver Dam Creek in the County of Goochland and all the Land which I have on the said Beaver Dam Creek and the Branches thereof. Also the Reversion of all my Lands in the County of Henrico on the North Side of James River after the Death of my Wife as also of one Tract of Land on the South Side of James River called Rogsdale joyning (sic, joining)to Henry Battes and Edward Folks Land and on the said River.

I Give and Bequeath unto my Son Robert Bolling all my Land at Willis’s Creek and at Tolere or near the seven Islands and Also a small Tract of Land above Dugads between the said Dugads and one of the Seads and all my Surveys Entries and orders of Council adjoining or near the same and also all my entries on Rock Island Creek all which said Lands lye in the County of Albemarle and I do give and devise them unto my said Son Robert his Heirs and afsigns (sic, assign) forever.

I Give and Dev1se unto my Son Edward Bolling, his Heirs and Afsigns (sic, Assigns) forever my Lands in the County of Lunenburgh on the Heads of the Branches of Falling River containing Five Thousand Acres also my Land on Roanoak River on Butcher's Creek and the Reversion of all my Lands given unto my Wife lying on the South Side of James River and north side of Appomattox River not herein before given. Also my Land Called John Bollings Inspection at the Point which said Lands at the Point I give unto my said Son Edward, his Heirs and Afsigns (sic, Assigns) when he shall arrive to the age of Twentyone years. I also give and devise unto my said Son Edward my Land called the Buffalo Lick on both Sides of James River also all my Entries not Pattented above Possum Creek to him his Heirs and Afsigns (sic, Assigns) forever. It is my Will and Desire that if either of my Sons Robert Bolling or Edward Bolling should Die before the age of Twentyone years that the survivor of them and his Heirs shall have and enjoy his Part of the Lands hereby devised him. It is also my Will that the Rents and Profits of my Land called John Bollings Inspection at the Point shall be applied by my Executor towards discharging the Quitrents of my Lands 1n the Counties of Albemarle and Lunenburg untill (sic, until) my Son Edward comes to the age of Twentyone years if he Lives so long but if not then until my Son Robert shall Attain that age.

I Give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Mary Bolling so much Money as will make the Legacy given her by her Aunt Anne Whiting amount to Five Hundred Pounds to be paid her when She shall Attain the Age of Twentyone Years or be Married which shall first happen.

I Give and Bequeath unto my Daughter Sarah Bolling so much Money as will make the Legacy given her by her Aunt Anne Whiting amount to Five Hundred Pounds to be paid her when She shall Attain the Age of Twentyone Years or be Married which shall first happen.

It is my Will and Desire that the Slaves given unto my Wife for Life be at her Death equally divided among all of my said Sons and that when the first of my said Sons shall come to the Age of Twentyone Years all my other Slaves shall be then equally Divided into as many Parts as I shall have Sons living and the eldest shall have one Part thereof Allotted to him for his own Use and the other Parts of the said Slaves shall be Delivered unto my said other Sons as they shall arrive to the same Age respectively and if any of my said Sons shall happen to Die before he shall come to such Age then his Part of my said Slaves shall be equally divided among my surviving Sons which said Slaves I give unto my said Sons forever. And Whereas my said Son Thomas Bolling may Claim a Legacy given by the last Will and Testament of his Aunt the said Anne Whiting deceased to him.

I do declare my Will to be that whatsoever I have given and devised to him by this my Will is upon this Condition that he my said Son Thomas do as soon as he comes to Age Release to my Executor and the Executors of the said Anne all his Right and Title to the said Legacy and the Legacys given by her to his Brothers therein mentioned now Dead or any of them and if he shall refuse so to do then I do Subject all my Estate hereby given him with the paiment (sic, payment) of so much Money as he shall be entitled to by Virtue of the Will of the said Whiting to be raised and paid to my Executor towards Discharging to Legacys hereby given to my Daughters. It is my Will that the Profits of my Estate given to my Children be app1ied towards the paiment (sic, payment) of my Debts and their Education and Maintenance until they shall have a Right to receive their Parts thereof respectively and that all my Stocks and Personal Estate after paiment (sic, payment) of my Debts and Legacies shall be equally divided among my Sons in the manner and at the same Time and Times as the Slaves are herein before directed to be divided and Allotted to them Lastly I do Constitute and Appoint my esteemed Friend Peter Randolph Esq. and my Son Thomas Bolling when he shall come to the age of Twentyone Years Executors of this my Last Will and Testament and I do also appoint and desire the said Peter Randolph to be Guardian to all my Sons and my said Wife Guardian to my Daughters hereby directing that my Estate shall not be Appraised and revoking all former Wills by me made In Witnys (sic, witness) whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and affixed my Seal this fourth Day of September in the year of our Lord One thousand seven hundred and forty nine. Signed, Sealed published and declared by the Testator to be his last Will and Testament In Presence of William Kennon J" Robert Goldie John Gilliam J" Bolling (SS)

1757 Codicil
I John Bolling of the Parish of Dale in the County of Chesterfield late of the County of Henrico Gent. being of perfect and disposing Memory do make the several Alterations and Additions following to my last Will and Testament bearing Date the fourth Day of September in the year One Thousand seven hundred and forty nine and so direct and appoint this Writing as a Codicil thereto and to be taken as Part of my said last Will and Testament to wit; I give and devise to my Son Archibald Bolling and his Heirs forever Twelve Hundred Acres of Land with the Appurtenances situate in the County of Bedford being one half of Six Surveys of Land made by me lying in the County of Bedford aforesaid from the Branches of Rock Island Creek to the Otter River Road that is to say that Part of the said Six Surveys of land lying next the said Road and the other Twelve hundred Acres residue of the said Six Surveys I give and dispose of in manner following that is to say I give and devise Four Hundred Acres with the Appurtenances Part of the said last mentioned Twelve hundred lying next on Rock Island Creek to my Nephew Bolling Eldridge and his Heirs forever and four Hundred Acres other part thereof with the Appurtenances. I give and devise to my Friend John Childers at Willis's Mountains in the County of Albemarle and his Heirs forever and Four hundred Residue thereof I give and Devise to my Friend Richard Taylor of Slate River in Albemarle County to hold the same with the Appurtenances to him and his Heirs forever all the said several Portions of the said Six Surveys to be laid off by such Lines and Boundaries and in such manner as my Son Thomas in his Discretion shall direct and appoint. I do give and devise to my aforesaid Son Archibald and his Heirs forever all Part of my Tract of Land called Buffalo Lick Tract which is Situated on the South Side of the Flevanna River now in the County of Bedford late in Albemarle which in my said Will is before devised to my Son Edward with all my Surveys Entries and Orders of Council adjoining the same some of which Entries Orders of Council and Surveys are in my said Will before given and devised to my Son Robert.It is my Will and Desire that my said Son Archibald come in with my other Sons for an equal Division of my Slaves at the same Time and Times upon the same Terms and under the same Regulations Limitations and Restrictions as in my said Will are mentioned and directed for each of my other Sons Respectively.It is my Will and Desire that the Legacy of Five Hundred Pounds in my said Will be given to my Daughter Sarah be reduced to Four Hundred Pounds and that the same be paid her at her Attaining the Age of Eighteen years and not sooner but if she shall Die before that Age then I give One hundred Pounds part of the said Legacy to my Daughter Anne and the Residue thereof to Sink for total Benefit of my Estate. I give and Bequeath to my Daughter Anne the Sum of Four Hundred Pounds to be paid for on her Attaining the Age of Eighteen years and not sooner and if she shall Die before that Age then I give One hundred Pounds part of her Legacy to my Daughter Sarah and the residue thereof to Sink for the Benefit of my Estate and it is my further Will and Desire that each of my Daughters receive their respective Legacies without Interest and that they be each of them maintained educated and decently supported out of the Profits of my whole Estate untill (sic, until) they each of them respectively become entitled to receive their Legacies or Marry which ever shall first happen In Witnys (sic, Witness) whereof I have hereunto set my Hand and affixed my Seal the Fourth Day of September in the year of Christ One thousand seven hundred and fifty seven Affixing this Codicil to my last said Will and Testament and Declaring it to be Part and Cancel of the same.

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, Published and Declared by the said John Bolling as and for Part of his Last Will and Testament the Day and year last above mentioned In presence of the Subscribers John Fleming Alex Bolling John Bannister Thomas Fleming Bolling


Major John Bolling
Major John Bolling, Son of Colonel John Bolling and Mary Cannie and Father of Bejamin Bolling, was born in 1700 in Petersburg, Virginia, USA. He married Elizabeth Blair on 01 Aug 1728 in Cobbs, Virginia, USA. He died on 06 Sep 1757 in Chesterfield, Virginia, USA. More on Major John Bolling and Elizabeth Blair and Family John and Elizabeth are the 7th Great Grandparents of Roger G. Spurgeon. From "From Pocahontas to the Bollings and Krimms", by James Lawrence Reed Jr. p. 14-5. "Major John Bolling, son of John and Marry Kennon Bolling was born in 1700 and died September 6, 1757. He was married August 11, 1728 to Elizabeth, daughter of Dr. Archibald Blair. She was the niece of James Blair D.D., who was the founder of William and Mary College. According to the Pocahontas book, they had 19 children, but from the January 1985 issue of the Pocahontas Trails newsletter we learn that there were 21 children counting one that died as an infant. According to the newsletter, the list was copied from the book [Of Whom I Came; From Whence I came] by Zelma Wells Price... We find from reading the Pocahontas book that Major John Bolling devoted much of his energy taking long and perilous journeys into the wilderness country for the purpose of claiming valuable unappropriated lands for his family. He was described as a person who took much pleasure from fine horses, hounds, hunting, fishing, fowling, feasting and dancing, yet always had time for his family. He was public spirited and well liked. John was [County Lieutenant] of Chesterfield, an office of much dignity and importance. He commanded the Militia and presided over the courts and for thirty years represented his county in the House of Burgesses." Also, from Reed's book, page 14, it is stated that Major John's son, John, married Mary Jefferson, a sister of Thomas Jefferson. And on page 32, John and Mary's son was Dr. Archibald Bolling who married Ann E. Wigginton. They were the parents of Judge Wm. Holcomb Bolling who married Sallie White and they were the parents of Edith Bolling, who married President Woodrow Wilson.

Major married Elizabeth Lewis in 1720 in , , Virginia, USA. Elizabeth was born in 1702 in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; died in 1725 in Cobbs Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Major married Mary Elizabeth Blair on 1 Aug 1728 in , James City, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 4 Apr 1709 in Williamsburg, Independent Cities, Virginia, USA; died on 22 Apr 1775 in Cobbs Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA; was buried in Enon, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Married: 1750

Matoaka married James Sullivan, Sr on 15 Jun 1743 in , , Virginia, USA. James was born on 2 Apr 1722 in Twittys Creek, Charlotte, Virginia, USA; died on 29 Jul 1809 in , Laurens, South Carolina, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Died:
In Service of Continental Army.

William married Amelia Randolph on 1 Jan 1755 in Curles Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA. Amelia (daughter of Richard Randolph and Jane Kennon Bolling) was born on 15 Jun 1739 in Curles Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA; died on 5 Sep 1780 in Curles Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

James married Elizabeth "Betty" Gay on 24 Nov 1757 in , Amherst, Virginia, USA. Elizabeth (daughter of William Gay, Sr and Elizabeth Bolling) was born in Sep 1738 in Varina, Henrico, Virginia, USA; died on 27 Nov 1813 in Cobbs Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA; was buried in Enon, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Robert Bolling was a poet, a member of the House of Burgesses (1761–1765), the sheriff of Buckingham County, and a member of the county court (1761–1775). Trained as a lawyer, he nearly fought a duel with William Byrd (1728–1777), a judge on the General Court, when Bolling accused the judges of bias in a murder case. Bolling was also involved in a suit brought by his youngest brother over an inheritance. The younger Bolling was represented by George Wythe, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and Robert Bolling by Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration's author. Bolling is best known as a poet, however. He published more poetry than any other colonial American between 1759 and 1775, including the grotesque "Neanthe" (ca. 1763), which reflected elements of Italian traditions, colonial Virginia folklore, and English poetry. In addition, during the failed courtship of his distant cousin, Bolling kept a journal, "A Circumstantial Account," which provides a unique view of eighteenth-century Virginia gentry. Bolling died suddenly in 1775 while attending the Virginia Convention of July–August 1775.

Robert Bolling was born on August 17, 1738, at Varina in Henrico County, the son of John Bolling and Elizabeth Blair Bolling and a great-great-grandson of Pocahontas and John Rolfe. In 1751 his father sent him to the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth in Wakefield, England, which a number of other Virginia boys attended. Bolling excelled in languages. On his way back to Virginia he stopped off in London and on December 31, 1755, was admitted to the Middle Temple for legal studies. Bolling returned to Virginia the next year, arriving at Yorktown on April 16, 1756. For a year and a half he studied law under Benjamin Waller in Williamsburg.
After his father died in 1757, Bolling lived at his father's Chesterfield County plantation, Cobbs, until the middle of 1760, when he built a house called Chellow, or Chellowe, at his plantation in the portion of southern Albemarle County that became Buckingham County in 1761. From January 12 until September 16, 1760, Bolling courted Anne Miller, a distant cousin. His courtship journal, "A Circumstantial Account," and the poems he wrote provide a unique view of courtship among the eighteenth-century Virginia gentry. The romance ended when Miller sailed to Scotland with her father; she later married Sir Peyton Skipwith.

On June 5, 1763, Bolling married Mary Burton, of Northampton County. She died on May 2, 1764, two days after the birth of their daughter. Almost fourteen months later, on May 31, 1765, Bolling posted a marriage bond in Amherst County and married Susanna Watson on that day or early in June. They had two sons and two daughters.

At the first election after Buckingham County was formed, the voters chose Bolling for the House of Burgesses. He attended the assembly of 1761–1765 regularly and was appointed to the prestigious Committee on Propositions and Grievances in 1762. Assuming that the important assembly business was concluded, he left to be married before the last session adjourned, thereby missing the famous meeting of the House of Burgesses on May 29, 1765, when Patrick Henry presented the Virginia Resolves against the Stamp Act. Bolling either did not stand for reelection in the summer of 1765 or was defeated.

Bolling became embroiled in several controversies. He heard George Whitefield preach at Bristol Parish in Blandford in April 1765 and satirized his revivalistic preaching. Later, in Alexander Purdie and John Dixon's Williamsburg Virginia Gazette for June 20, 1766, Bolling precipitated a major crisis by questioning whether three members of the General Court had shown partiality in bailing their friend John Chiswell, who had been arrested and charged with murder. Writers hotly debated the question in the newspapers. William Byrd, one of the judges who allowed Chiswell bail, sued Bolling for libel. On October 16, 1766, Lieutenant Governor Francis Fauquier, presiding at a session of the General Court, instructed a grand jury to "punish the Licentiousness of the Press," but the jury refused to indict. Byrd subsequently challenged Bolling to a duel, but a few hours before the duel was to take place both men were arrested and jailed. After being bound over to keep the peace they were released.

Bolling was again involved in legal troubles in 1771. His youngest brother, Archibald Bolling, sued him, believing that he should have received the property that their brother Edward Bolling, who died in 1770, had left instead to Robert Bolling. Archibald Bolling's attorney, George Wythe, and Robert Bolling's attorney, Thomas Jefferson, prepared exhaustive statements of the case, both of which survive. Jefferson's argument remains one of the best examples of his abilities as a lawyer.

Bolling cultivated grapes, made wine on his estate in Buckingham County, and wrote a dissertation on wine making, a portion of which appeared in Purdie and Dixon'sWilliamsburg Virginia Gazette for February 25, 1773. The House of Burgesses awarded him £50 sterling a year for five years beginning in 1773 "in Order to enable him to prosecute his scheme of cultivating Grapes, for the making of Wine."

Bolling is best known as a writer. He published more poetry than any other colonial American between 1759 and his death. His poems appeared in the Williamsburg newspapers on many occasions, such as on the arrival of Governor Botetourt in 1768, and were of several types, including a long elegy in John Dixon and William Hunter'sWilliamsburg Virginia Gazette of May 20, 1775, on the deaths of Virginia militiamen at the Battle of Point Pleasant the previous October during Dunmore's War (1773–1774). Bolling was probably the greatest student of Italian literature in colonial America, and he wrote poetry in Italian, French, and Latin as well as in English.
His verse ranged through the usual genres of eighteenth-century popular poetry but also included some extraordinary pieces, such as the amazingly grotesque poem "Neanthe" (ca. 1763), which reflected elements of Italian anti-Petrarchan traditions, colonial Virginia folklore, and English Hudibrastic poetry. In the earliest appreciation of Bolling's poetry, Pierre Étienne Du Ponceau extravagantly judged him "one of the greatest poetical geniuses that ever existed." Bolling also wrote a brief family history, which was translated from the original French and published in Richmond in 1868 asMemoir of a Portion of the Bolling Family in England and Virginia. It recorded his descent from the immigrant Robert Bolling and the granddaughter of Pocahontas.

In many other ways typical of the colonial Virginia gentry, Bolling served on the Buckingham County Court from its creation in 1761 until his death and by 1774 was the second-ranking member. Against his wishes he was appointed sheriff of Buckingham County in 1765, and he was a colonel of the Buckingham County militia by 1773. Bolling was elected to represent his county in the Virginia Convention of July–August 1775. He was present in Richmond on July 17, 1775, for the convention's opening. Four days later, on July 21, 1775, Robert Bolling died suddenly at Richmond, perhaps of a heart attack. "Poor Bob. Bolling has run his race," one of the delegates wrote, "adieu to Burgundy."

August 17, 1738 - Robert Bolling is born in Henrico County. He is a great-great-grandson of Pocahontas and John Rolfe.
1751 - Robert Bolling's father, John Bolling, sends him to the Free Grammar School of Queen Elizabeth in Wakefield, England, which a number of other Virginia boys attend. Bolling excels in languages.
December 31, 1755 - Robert Bolling is admitted to the Middle Temple in London, England, for legal studies.
April 16, 1756 - After studying the law in London, England, Robert Bolling returns to Virginia, arriving at Yorktown. He continues study of the law for a year and a half under Benjamin Waller in Williamsburg.
1757 - Robert Bolling's father, John Bolling, dies. Bolling lives at his father's Chesterfield County plantation, Cobbs, until the middle of 1760, when he builds his own home in southern Albemarle County.
January 12–September 16, 1760 - Robert Bolling courts Anne Miller, a distant cousin. He keeps a courtship journal, "A Circumstantial Account," which provides a unique view of eighteenth-century Virginia gentry. The romance ends when Miller sails for Scotland with her father.
1761–1765 - Robert Bolling is elected to and attends the assembly of the House of Burgesses.
1761–1775 - Robert Bolling serves on the Buckingham County Court. By 1774 he is the second-ranking member.
1762 - A member of the House of Burgesses, Robert Bolling is appointed to the prestigious Committee on Propositions and Grievances.
June 5, 1763 - Robert Bolling marries Mary Burton, of Northampton County.
May 2, 1764 - Mary Burton, wife of Robert Bolling, dies two days after the birth of their daughter.
1765 - Against his wishes, Robert Bolling is appointed sheriff of Buckingham County and is a colonel of the Buckingham militia by 1773.
April 1765 - Robert Bolling hears George Whitefield preach at Bristol Parish in Blandford and satirizes his revivalistic style.
May 29, 1765 - Having already left the House of Burgesses, assuming the important assembly business was concluded, Robert Bolling misses Patrick Henry's presentation of the Virginia Resolves against the Stamp Act. That summer, Bolling either does not stand for reelection or is defeated.
May 31, 1765 - Robert Bolling posts a marriage bond in Amherst County and marries Susanna Watson on this day or early in June. They will have two sons and two daughters.
June 20, 1766 - In the Williamsburg Virginia Gazette, Robert Bolling precipitates a crisis by questioning whether three members of the General Court have shown partiality in bailing their friend John Chiswell, who has been arrested and charged with murder. One of the judges, William Byrd, sues Bolling for libel.
October 16, 1766 - Following accusations of bias in a murder case by Robert Bolling, a General Court judge instructs a grand jury to "punish the Licentiousness of the Press," but the jury refuses to indict. Another judge, William Byrd, challenges Bolling to a duel, but both men are arrested and jailed first.
1771 - Robert Bolling's youngest brother, Archibald Bolling, sues him over the inheritance of their brother Edward Bolling, who died in 1770. Archibald's attorney is George Wythe, Robert's is Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson's argument remains one of the best examples of his abilities as a lawyer.
February 25, 1773 - Robert Bolling publishes a dissertation on wine making in the Williamsburg Virginia Gazette. The House of Burgesses awarded him £50 sterling a year for five years "in Order to enable him to prosecute his scheme of cultivating Grapes, for the making of Wine."
May 20, 1775 - Robert Bolling publishes in the Williamsburg Virginia Gazette a long elegy on the deaths of Virginia militiamen at the Battle of Point Pleasant the previous October during Dunmore's War (1773–1774).
July 17, 1775 - The Virginia Convention opens in Richmond. Robert Bolling attends as a representative of Buckingham County.
July 21, 1775 - Robert Bolling, in Richmond as a representative of Buckingham County to the Virginia Convention, dies suddenly, possibly of a heart attack.

Robert Bolling (1738-1775), grandson of Robert Bolling (1646-1709) was born in Virginia and sent to England for his education. On his return to Virginia, he studied law, but soon took over at Chellow, a tobacco plantation inherited from his father. He was one of the most prolific poets in Virginia's early history. Much of Bolling's work remains unpublished. His papers are owned by the University of Virginia Library and the Henry E. Huntington Library.

Robert Bolling was born at Varina in Henrico County, Virginia, on August 17, 1738, the son of John Bolling and his wife Elizabeth Blair, and a great-great-grandson of John Rolfe and Pocahontas. Raised in Henrico and educated mainly in England, he also studied law for a period in Williamsburg. A poet, lawyer, and sheriff, he was a member of the House of Burgesses from 1761 to 1765 for Buckingham County. Bolling possessed considerable wealth, inheriting lands from his father which enabled him to build "Chellow" at his plantation in southern Albemarle County (later Buckingham County) in 1760. He cultivated grapes and tried his hand at wine making, and wrote a dissertation on winemaking. When his younger brother brought suit over an inheritance, Robert Bolling was represented by Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. Bolling is best known as the most prolific poet of Colonial America. His "A Circumstantial Account,” a diary written from the fall of 1760 to 1761 during a failed courtship by his distant cousin Anne Miller, provides a unique view of eighteenth century Virginia gentry. Anne ended the romance, and Bolling was twice married: first, in 1763, to Mary Burton, who died after giving birth, and second, in 1765 to Susanna Watson, who gave him several children. Bolling died suddenly in Richmond on July 21, 1775 while attending the Virginia Convention of July–August 1775.

Source

Brendan Wolfe, ed. "Robert Bolling (1738-1775)." Dictionary of Virginia Biography. http://www.EncyclopediaVirginia.org/Bolling_Robert_1738-1775 (accessed March 31, 2010); Memoirs of Robert Bolling. Richmond, Va.: W.H. Wade & Co., 1868; Bearss, Sara B. et al. Dictionary of Virginia Biography vol. 2 (Bland-Cannon). Richmond: Library of Virginia, 2001.

Robert married Mary Augusta Burton on 3 Jun 1763 in , Northampton, Virginia, USA. Mary (daughter of William Burton and Margaret Robins) was born on 17 Aug 1738 in Varina, Henrico, Virginia, USA; died on 2 May 1764 in Cobbs Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Robert married Susanna Watson on 31 May 1765 in , Amherst, Virginia, USA. Susanna was born in 1738 in , Henrico, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Name: Mary Bolling

Mary married Richard Bland on 10 Oct 1761 in Chesterfield, Chesterfield, Virginia, USA. Richard (son of Richard Bland, Jr, Col and Ann Poythress) was born on 3 Apr 1731 in Jordans Point, Prince George, Virginia, USA; died on 25 Jan 1786 in , Chesterfield, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

"Bolling Hall" is located on the James River, about 35 miles west of Richmond. The land was claimed by John Bolling in 1714 and was inherited by grandson, William Bolling. William Bolling built the original Bolling Hall in the late 18th century and the house remained in the Bolling family from 1714 to 1872. Bolling Hall was the original site for one of the first schools in the United States to educate deaf children. Congenital deafness ran in the Bolling family. William Bolling had three siblings who were born deaf. Since there were not any schools for the deaf in the United States at the time, William’s deaf siblings were sent to Scotland to learn under acclaimed teacher, Thomas Braidwood. In 1760, Thomas Braidwood opened 'Braidwoods Academy' in Edinburgh, the first school for the deaf in Britain, which later relocated to Hackney, England. He made early use of a form of sign language, which continues to be used today. William Bolling married Mary Randolph and they had 4 children. One of their children, William Albert Bolling, was born deaf. William hired John Braidwood, grandson of Thomas Braidwood, to come to Bolling Hall and teach all his children. Thus, Bolling Hall became the first place in Virginia where children with congenital deafness were taught. Later, William opened a larger school for the deaf at Cobbs, another Bolling family plantation, which was large enough to accommodate deaf children from other families. The Cobbs school operated from 1812 until 1816. Bolling Hall fell into disrepair in the 1940's but has undergone a rejuvenation in recent years. The house was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972, noted for its significance in architecture, education and social history.

Sources:

http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/VAGuide/tour19.html

www.bolling.net

www.wikipedia.com

http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/va/Goochland/state.html

William married Mary Amelia Bolling on 23 Feb 1798 in , Henrico, Virginia, USA. Mary was born on 5 Jul 1774 in Curles Plantation, Henrico, Virginia, USA; died on 8 Aug 1863 in Bolling Hall, Goochland, Virginia, USA; was buried in , Goochland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

William Albert Bolling was born to Colonel William Bolling.

As a deaf child, he got private tutoring with John Braidwood, grandson of Thomas Braidwood who founded the Braidwood Academy. Private tutoring was at the Bolling Hall, his private home with his deaf sibling, Mary. The private tutoring lasted from 1812 to 1814.

Later, he and Mary enrolled at the public school for the deaf, Cobb School, on the Cobb Plantation, Goochland County, Virginia in 1815 and closed in 1816. He then enrolled again at Manchester School in Manchester, Virginia June 1817 to May 1819 (Braidwood left to become a barkeeper at a tavern nearby, while John Kirkpatrick remained as the instructor. William was then transferred to a new school, Cumberland School at Farmville, Cumberland County, Virginia from 1819 to circa 1821 under the instruction of Reverend John Kirkpatrick, who was ordained as a Reverend at the Cumberland County Courthouse May 1819.

Family/Spouse: Mary Louisa Morris. Mary (daughter of Richard Morris and Mary Watts) was born on 11 Aug 1810 in , Campbell, Virginia, USA; died on 4 May 1852 in , Goochland, Virginia, USA; was buried in , Goochland, Virginia, USA. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]